AOPA Kisses Medical Reform Good-Bye

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Well, I think we can safely kiss good-bye any hope of meaningful changes to the third class medical requirements for private pilots.

I base that theory on the nasty note AOPA President Mark Baker sent to Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx last week on the topic. (PDF)

But what I can’t figure out is which is the chicken and which is the egg. Did Baker toss out that missive in reaction to something he heard about the fate of the long-suffering initiative or will the intemperate, politically charged tone of the letter cause Foxx to move it to the far corner of his presumably large and overstacked desk.

Baker’s frustration is understandable. It’s been three years since AOPA and EAA banded together to tear down what is perceived to be a significant barrier in the retention, and to a lesser degree I think, the attraction of new pilots.

There’s a key phrase in the mostly-civilized opening paragraph that says much about Baker’s frustration. He says he’s writing it “on behalf of 350,000 members” and the publicly touted membership number was in the low 400s only a few years ago.

AOPA and EAA wouldn’t have gone through all the trouble to put the proposal forward without some encouragement from the FAA. And the FAA did come up with a rule it could live with before sending it to the DOT for mandatory review. That review is supposed to take 90 days at most and it’s been more than seven months.

Of course Baker makes all the well-reasoned economic, demographic and statistical arguments in favor of the initiative but toward the end of the letter he either loses his composure or tosses a political bone that a good portion of his members will identify with as he bids adieu to the medical reform proposal.

“Our members, the general aviation industry, members of Congress, and the American people are frustrated with our government’s inability to move efficiently and effectively on issues that will improve safety, save money, and help create jobs and support local economies,” the letter says.

While it may have felt good at the time, charged language like that is the lobbying equivalent of telling Foxx to take a deep breath and cough.

Baker either knows that and did it anyway because there was nothing to lose or he isn’t the sophisticated Beltway mover and shaker some might have thought he would be.

And for the majority of his members, that means dropping their pants and bending over for the FAA as usual.

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